Cristina Spinei


Cristina Spinei is an Nashville-based American composer. She is best known for her work with ballet; she has been commissioned by the Nashville ballet, the New York Choreographic Institute, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet.

Biography

Cristina Spinei was born in Connecticut and started playing piano by the age of 9. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees from the Juilliard School where she studied with Christopher Rouse. She has been called “one of the most talented young composers in America” by Grammy award-winning composer/conductor José Serebrier. Spinei is recipient of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism Grant for Composition, the Composer Assistance Award from the American Music Center, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts composition grant, the New York State Council on the Arts composition grant, and the Composition Award from the Arts Recognition and Talent Search.
Spinei's ballets and other compositions have been performed throughout the United States and internationally. She also Performs her own music, most notably with the Nashville Ballet in 2017, 2018, and 2020.
She is co-founder of , a New York-based group that combines new music with cutting-edge technology. Blind Ear has been featured at the World Technology Awards and on YouTube's weekly "Spotlight on Music" section. Blind Ear was cited as "the future of music" in an interview for BBC's World Today.
Spinei's first album, Music for Dance , made its debut in 2016. The Album was characterized by the critic Dean Frey as having a “strong lyrical streak with an open, folk-like feeling and a dollop of pop.”
Spinei’s most recent project is her second full length album, Ex Voto. In February 2020, she performed pieces from the album new music venue National Sawdust in Brooklyn.
In addition to her own records, Spinei’s music appears on the debut album of Trio Celeste, as well as on St. Michel Strings’ album Adagio, a record nominated for a Latin GRAMMY® Award. In an effort to combine her passion for Classical music and Latin culture, Spinei wrote Sonatagram in three minute-long movements designed specifically for Instagram. Instagram personality and cellist, Cremaine Booker performed the piece, and the video has been viewed over 20,000 times.

Recent Works